Where {{ic|<arguments>}} can be any valid {{ic|iwconfig}} argument. The script then runs {{ic|iwconfig $INTERFACE $IWCONFIG}}.

−

−

For example, force the card to register to a specific access point given by MAC address:

−

IWCONFIG="ap 12:34:56:78:90:12"

−

−

This supersedes the {{ic|IWOPTS}} and {{ic|WEP_OPTS}} options which were incompletely implemented.

−

−

===rfkill (enable/disable radio power)===

−

netcfg can enable/disable radio for wireless cards equipped with software control of radio. For wireless cards with hardware switches, netcfg can detect disabled hardware switches and fail accordingly.

−

−

To enable rfkill support, you need to specify what sort of switch the wireless interface has; hardware or software. This can be set within a profile or at the interface level ({{ic|/etc/network.d/interfaces/$INTERFACE}}; see [[#Per-interface configuration]]).

−

−

RFKILL=soft # can be either 'hard' or 'soft'

−

−

For some kill switches the rfkill entry in {{ic|/sys}} is not linked to the interface and the {{ic|RFKILL_NAME}} variable needs to be set to the contents of the matching {{ic|/sys/class/rfkill/rfkill#/name}}.

−

−

For example, on an Eee PC:

−

−

RFKILL=soft

−

RFKILL_NAME='eeepc-wlan'

−

−

On a mid-2011 Thinkpad:

−

−

RFKILL=hard

−

RFKILL_NAME='phy0'

−

−

{{Note|The {{ic|net-auto-wireless}} daemon requires an interface level configuration of rfkill or it will not start.}}

−

−

{{Warning|Some devices (at least few SiS cards) can create {{Ic|/sys/class/rfkill/rfkill#}} entries with different names on every switch. Something like this will work in such cases (wifi-only solution!):

If your interface requires special actions prior/after the establishment/closure of a connection, you may use the {{ic|PRE_UP}}, {{ic|POST_UP}}, {{ic|PRE_DOWN}}, and {{ic|POST_DOWN}} variables.

−

−

For example, if you want to configure your wireless card to operate in ad-hoc mode but you can only change modes when the interface is down, you could use something like this:

−

−

PRE_UP="ip link set wlan0 down; iwconfig wlan0 mode ad-hoc"

−

−

Or if you want to mount your network shares after a successful connection, you could use:

−

−

POST_UP="sleep 5; mount /mnt/shares/nexus/utorrent 2>/dev/null"

−

−

Sometimes you may want to run something from netcfg with another user:

−

−

POST_UP="su -c '/you/own/command' username"

−

−

{{Note|If the commands specified in these properties return anything other than 0 (success), netcfg aborts the current operation. So if you want to mount a certain network share that might not be available at the time of connection (thus returning an error), you could create a separate [[Bash]] script with the mount commands and a {{ic|exit 0}} at the end. Alternatively you can add {{ic|<nowiki>|| true</nowiki>}} to the end of the command that may fail.}}

−

−

{{Note|The contents of these variables are evaluated with an {{ic|eval}} statement. Profile and interface variables like {{ic|ESSID}} are available for use, but must be escaped so that their evaluation is deferred to the eval. The easiest way to do that is to use single quotes. For example: {{ic|<nowiki>PRE_UP='echo $ESSID >/tmp/essid'</nowiki>}} will evaluate correctly, regardless where the {{ic|PRE_UP}} command is.}}

−

−

===Intermittent Connection Failure===

−

Some driver+hardware combinations drop associations sometimes. Use the pre and post commands to add/remove the driver and use a script like the following to fix the current connection:

−

−

{{hc|/usr/local/bin/netcfgd|<nowiki>

−

#!/bin/bash

−

log() { logger -t "$( basename $0 )" "$*" ; }

−

−

main() {

−

local host

−

while sleep 1; do

−

[[ "$( netcfg current )" = "" ]] && continue

−

−

host=$( route -n | awk '/^0.0.0.0/ { print $2 }' )

−

ping -c1 -w10 $host && continue

−

−

log "trying to reassociate"

−

wpa_cli reassociate

−

ping -c1 -w10 $host && continue

−

−

log "reassociate failed, reconfiguring network"

−

netcfg -r $( netcfg current )

−

done

−

}

−

−

exec 1>/dev/null

−

[[ $EUID != 0 ]] && { log "must be root"; exit 1; }

−

−

for cmd in wpa_cli ping netcfg; do

−

! which $cmd && {

−

log "can't find command ${cmd}, exiting..."

−

exit 1

−

}

−

done

−

−

log 'starting...'

−

main

−

−

</nowiki>}}

−

−

===Per-interface configuration===

−

Configuration options that apply to all profiles using an interface can be set using {{ic|/etc/network.d/interfaces/$INTERFACE}}. For example:

−

−

/etc/network.d/interfaces/wlan0

−

−

This is useful for {{ic|wpa_supplicant}} options, rfkill switch support, pre/post up/down scripts and {{ic|net-auto-wireless}}. These options are loaded ''before'' profiles so that any profile-based options will take priority.

−

−

{{ic|/etc/network.d/interfaces/$INTERFACE}} may contain any valid profile option, though you are likely to use {{ic|PRE_UP}}/{{ic|DOWN}} and {{ic|POST_UP}}/{{ic|DOWN}} (described in the previous section) or one of the options listed below. Remember that these options are set for ''all'' profiles using the interface; you probably do not want to connect to your work VPN here, for instance, as it will try to connect on ''every'' wireless network!

−

−

WPA_GROUP - Setting the group of the wpa_ctrl interface

−

WPA_COUNTRY - Enforces local regulatory limitations and allows use of more channels

netcfg has limited support to load hooks that handle output. By default it loads the {{ic|arch}} hook which provides the familiar output that you see. A syslog logging hook is also included. These can be found at {{ic|/usr/lib/network/hooks}}.

−

−

===ArchAssistant (GUI)===

−

−

A Qt-based netcfg front-end called ArchAssistant exists. It proposes to manage and connect/disconnect profiles from a system tray icon. Automatic wireless detection is also available. This tool is particularly useful for laptop users.

There is also a relatively new GUI for netcfg on qt-apps.org that does only network configuration. You can find it [http://www.qt-apps.org/content/show.php/netcfgGUI?content=99523 here].

−

−

===Netcfg Easy Wireless LAN (newlan)===

−

newlan is a mono console application that starts a user-friendly wizard to create [[netcfg]] profiles; it also supports wired connections.

−

−

Install the {{AUR|newlan}} package from the [[Arch User Repository|AUR]].

−

−

{{ic|newlan}} must be run with root privileges:

−

# newlan -n mynewprofile

−

−

===wifi-select===

−

{{Note|Latest version of netcfg will provide '''wifi-menu''' with functionality equal to that of wifi-select.}}

−

−

There is a console tool for selecting wireless networks in "real-time" (in [[NetworkManager]] fashion) called {{Pkg|wifi-select}}. The tool is convenient for use in Internet cafés or other places you are visiting for the first (and maybe the last) time. With this tool, you do not need to create a profile for a new network, just run {{ic|wifi-select wlan0}} as root and choose the desired network.

−

−

The tool is currently packaged as {{Pkg|wifi-select}} and is available in the [[Official Repositories|official repositories]].

−

−

{{Pkg|wifi-select}} does the following:

−

* parses {{ic|iwlist scan}} results and presents a list of networks along with their security settings (WPA/WEP/none) using {{Pkg|dialog}}

−

* if user selects network with existing profile -- just use this profile to connect with {{Pkg|netcfg}}

−

* if user selects a new network (for example, a Wi-Fi hotspot), {{Pkg|wifi-select}} automatically generates a new profile with corresponding {{ic|$SECURITY}} and asks for the key (if needed). It uses DHCP as {{ic|$IP}} by default

−

* then, if the connection succeeds, the profile is saved for later usage

−

* if the connection fails, the user is asked if he or she wants to keep generated profile for further usage (for example to change {{ic|$IP}} to static or adjust some additional options)

−

−

Links:

−

−

* [https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=63973 Forum thread] related to development of {{Pkg|wifi-select}}

−

* [https://github.com/sphynx/wifi-select wifi-select on GitHub]

−

−

===Passing arguments to dhcpcd===

−

−

For example, add

−

DHCP_OPTIONS='-C resolv.conf -G'

−

to the desired profile. The above example prevents {{Pkg|dhcpcd}} from writing to {{ic|/etc/resolv.conf}} and setting any default routes.

−

−

====Speed up DHCP with dhcpcd====

−

−

By default, {{ic|dhcpcd}} confirms that the assigned IP address is not already taken via ARP. If you are confident that it will not be, e.g. in your home network, you can speed up the connection process by about 5 seconds by adding {{ic|--noarp}} to {{ic|DHCP_OPTIONS}}:

−

−

DHCP_OPTIONS="--noarp"

−

−

If you never want {{ic|dhcpcd}} to perform this check for any connection, you can globally configure this by adding the following line to {{ic|/etc/dhcpcd.conf}}:

−

−

noarp

−

−

===Using dhclient instead of dhcpcd===

−

−

To use {{Pkg|dhclient}} instead of {{Pkg|dhcpcd}}, simply add {{ic|DHCLIENT<nowiki>=</nowiki>yes}} to the desired profile.

−

−

===Configuring a bridge for use with virtual machines (VMs)===

−

To configure a bridge named br0 with a static IP:

−

{{hc|/etc/network.d/br0|<nowiki>

−

INTERFACE="br0"

−

CONNECTION="bridge"

−

DESCRIPTION="bridge br0 static"

−

BRIDGE_INTERFACES="eth0"

−

IP='static'

−

ADDR='10.0.0.10'

−

GATEWAY='10.0.0.1'

−

DNS='10.0.0.1'

−

</nowiki>}}

−

−

To configure a bridge named br0 with a dhcp IP:

−

{{hc|/etc/network.d/br0|<nowiki>

−

INTERFACE="br0"

−

CONNECTION="bridge"

−

DESCRIPTION="bridge br0 dhcp"

−

BRIDGE_INTERFACES="eth0"

−

IP='dhcp'

−

</nowiki>}}

−

−

Then add the corresponding bridge name to your {{ic|NETWORKS&#61;(...)}} in {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}}.

−

−

It can be brought up by calling it directly, or by restarting net-profiles.

−

−

netcfg br0

−

−

rc.d restart net-profiles

−

−

===Adding multiple IP addresses to one interface===

−

If you want to assign multiple IP addresses to 1 specific interface, this can be done by issuing the relevant {{ic|ip}} command in a {{ic|POST_UP}} statement (which as the name suggests will be executed after the interface has been brought up). Multiple statements can be separated with a {{ic|;}}. So if you for example would want to assign both 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2 to interface eth0; the config would look something among the lines of:

−

−

{{hc|/etc/network.d/multiple_ip|<nowiki>

−

INTERFACE="eth0"

−

CONNECTION="ethernet"

−

IP='static'

−

ADDR='10.0.0.1'

−

POST_UP='ip addr add 10.0.0.2/24 dev eth0'

−

</nowiki>}}

−

−

===Adding static routes===

−

When wanting to configure static routes, this can be done by issuing the relevant {{ic|ip}} command in a {{ic|POSTUP}} statement (which as the name suggests will be executed after the interface has been brought up). Optionally, a {{ic|PRE_DOWN}} statement can be added to remove said routes when the interface is brought down. Multiple statements can be separated with a {{ic|;}}. In the below example we'll route 10.0.1.0/24 over interface eth1 and then remove the route when the interface is brought down.

−

−

{{hc|/etc/network.d/static_routes|<nowiki>

−

INTERFACE="eth1"

−

CONNECTION="ethernet"

−

IP='static'

−

POST_UP='ip route add 10.0.1.0/24 dev eth1'

−

PRE_DOWN='ip route del 10.0.1.0/24 dev eth1'

−

</nowiki>}}

−

−

====Bluetooth tethering with pand====

−

−

You can create a [[netcfg]] profile for easy tethering with your Bluetooth enabled device by using the regular "ethernet" connection and managing the pand connection in the PRE_UP and POST_DOWN hooks. Assuming an already paired device with address '00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF', simply create a profile in /etc/network.d called - for example - 'tether':